Finding the Right Difficulty

[Tillbot87]

Hey guys,

first things first: I didnt find my exact question in the forum but feel free to point my in the right direction if what I am asking here is an old hat.

So I really liked Deadfire but Ive got a hard time finding the right difficulty for me. Ive finished it twice so far having the same problem each time: Most fights are way too easy and I quickly ran out of challenges. This was worse during the 2nd time because it took me until then to understand most of the games mechanics  A result was that I left a lot of the map untouched and want to play it a third time. The question now is: Whats the right difficulty for me? I dont want the game to be frustrating and would like to be able to defeat big bosses without silly grinding or exploiting errors. I still want some challenge but dont want a high difficulty setting to bite me in the ass later. That basically leads me to the following:

• I was thinking about only upwarts scaling for the critical path (I dont want to fight LVL20 grublings...) but I am wonderding what that affects. The Messenger, the dragon at Magrans Teeth and the big Crystal Spider have been hard battles which I dont want to get any harder - will they be affected?
• Can a casual player play at hard or above or would that become too demanding later in the game?

In short: I am tired of steamrolling over everything but dont want the game to become frustrating or a micro-managing nightmare. Any suggestions?

I know that was a bit of a weird one so thanks in advance for your thoughts!

Cheers

 

 

[Boeroer]

I would play Path of the Damned with no scaling. It will be a lot harder in the early game (so don't give up - use sneaking or other non-violent approaches here and there, especially on Gorecci Street!) but then the difficulty drops once you reach Neketaka (which is still very early in the game). Megabosses will still be a bad grind and totally suck - but everything else should be roughly in line.  

[Noqn]

I was about to suggest playing on upwards level-scaling for everything, not just critical path. My impression is that it does a good job at evening out the difficulty floor, without making the hardest encounters any harder* which seems to be what OP is after.

*(unless the player is overleveled, and even then I suspect stat adjustment from PotD alone might make those encounters even worse than in upscaled Normal/Veteran)

[Raven Darkholme]

The way Poe difficulty works I would play either veteran or potd, all the other difficulties make little sense and are to similar.

[Tillbot87]

Thanks guys!

I think I'll try path of the damned without upscaling for now. I see the appeal of upscaling but I am just not sure how I feel about lvl-adjusted xaurips and thugs.

I'll try a new build (Barbarian/Transmuter) for this one so wish me luck

P.S: I am slightly amazed that I got three helpful comments right away. Thanks again!

Edited January 9, 2021 by Tillbot87

[Haplok]

Enemies in areas do seem to have "level ceilings", so you can still grossly overlevel some areas/content even with full scaling active. But the higher level areas remain a threat.

[Tillbot87]

Interesting. Tbh: I am struggling with Path of the Damned a little. Took me three attempts to get past the thugs on Gorecci Street. I know Ive been warned but wow...its tough!

[AndreaColombo]

As @Boeroer mentioned, higher difficulties are more likely to bite you in the ass earlier, rather than later.

One thing to note is that you can change difficulty settings mid-game and the change will affect all areas you haven't visited yet. So if you find Veteran/PotD too hard or otherwise not fun in the early game, you can play at a lower difficulty and switch it up at whatever time (like before landing port in Neketaka, for example.)

I usually enjoy playing with level scaling only up for all content as, past a certain level, fights tend to become rather easy even on PotD.

God challenges are also good to shake things up. Galawain's Challenge is my personal favorite.

Edited January 11, 2021 by AndreaColombo

[Boeroer]

2 hours ago, Tillbot87 said:

Interesting. Tbh: I am struggling with Path of the Damned a little. Took me three attempts to get past the thugs on Gorecci Street. I know Ive been warned but wow...its tough!

Gorecci Street is extremely hard. If you could beat it on PotD then you are totally fit for the rest of the game on PotD: it won't get harder than that (if you don't force encounters with severely overleveled enemies). DLCs SSS and FS can be tough as well - but that's more about finding out what approach you need for a certain type of enemy. For example in SSS some fights really need you to not be hasty and use brute force but spare ressources until later in the fight.

Edited January 11, 2021 by Boeroer

[Haplok]

1 hour ago, Tillbot87 said:

Interesting. Tbh: I am struggling with Path of the Damned a little. Took me three attempts to get past the thugs on Gorecci Street. I know Ive been warned but wow...its tough!

If you've solved Gorecci trough combat prior to visiting the Digsite, then its actually quite an achievment.

It much easier once you return to Port Maje. Then again, also the Excavation Site isn't exactly easy. Or the skellies in the training area there. But after that its mostly smooth sailing....

[Tillbot87]

Tbh: I had added two additional characters to my party in the tavern before giving it a go, dont think I would have made it just with Xoti and Edér...

[thelee]

10 hours ago, Tillbot87 said:

Tbh: I had added two additional characters to my party in the tavern before giving it a go, dont think I would have made it just with Xoti and Edér...

i feel it's pretty much required to take out the entirety of gorecci on PotD unless your mainchar is somehow super-optimized. you're fine.

[dgray62]

I always take on Gorecci Street on PotD before doing the digsite, usually with Eder and/or Xoti and 2 or 3 custom characters to round out the party. It is challenging but doable. I usually sneak onto the platform (which is doable if you enter from the top with at least 1 stealth on each character), surround the mage, and take him out from stealth. Getting rid of the mage at the very beginning makes things easier, in my experience.

[Boeroer]

If you're rocking Essence Interrupter + modal with a fitting frontloaded build (e.g. Berserker/Streetfighter or Scout or so) Gorecci Street is actually not that hard with only MC, Xoti and Edér. But you need BB's money blessing for that and starting with BB's lvl 4 is also very helpful of course. 

I tried said Berserker/Streetfighter (with 3 CON so he reached Bloodied/Blooded/Heating Up quite quickly via Frenzy) and he blasted through Gorecci Street like the Pope blasted cigs.

And for a solo Assassin it's very easy if he has Smoke Veil.

[yogaman28734]

On 1/9/2021 at 8:01 AM, Boeroer said:

I would play Path of the Damned with no scaling. It will be a lot harder in the early game (so don't give up - use sneaking or other non-violent approaches here and there, especially on Gorecci Street!) but then the difficulty drops once you reach Neketaka (which is still very early in the game). Megabosses will still be a bad grind and totally suck - but everything else should be roughly in line.  

Boeroer, I haven’t felt confident enough to play PoTD solo, and on my first attempt I couldn’t get past the essence anomalies in the arena sub-level of the Engwithan digsite, even with imported gear. Any general or class-specific tips? (With veteran difficulty I just ran up into a notch by the adra pillar so they couldn’t flank me.) 

The answer to this question may also help our original poster, Tillbot87, thanks

[Boeroer]

Depends on your class. But in general sneaking past them should always work:

Sparkcrackers or other noisy abilities that can be cast on the ground and out of stealth - like Dazzling Lights for example - to lure the enemies away from the path you wish to take and then  sneak past them. If you imported items you can also use Bounding Boots to jump over their heads. If you pause in a clever way you can cancel the leap in mid-air. You will not daze od trigger any effect really but also you won't use up the charge of the boots - and make no noise - but still land at the target location. 

After finding Oderisi and conversing with Eothas you usually gain a level - that often makes a lot of difference in those early fights so maybe you can take them on on the way back.